>It seems like the only way to make recycling truly effective at a large scale is to make it economically viable

I think it's easier and less corruptible to have the goal be to reduce the consumption causing the waste and attack the problem at the root. I.e. a tax increasing the cost of everything to reflect the cost of properly disposing it.

Recycling doesn't undo the environmental damage, and in many cases it takes huge amounts of energy to recycle causing even more damage.